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  3. Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley are challenging our long-held belief that humans are hard-wired to be selfi

Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley are challenging our long-held belief that humans are hard-wired to be selfi

admin2012-05-28  59
问题     Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley are challenging our long-held belief that humans are hard-wired to be selfish. Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was misinterpreted by his male popularizers, the researchers say. Rather than "every man for himself, Darwin believed that humans are successful as a species precisely because of our nurturing, selfless and compassionate traits.
    Why has it taken so long for Darwin’s central revelation to be properly interpreted? "We’ve had too many men in social science," Berkeley psychology professor Dacher Keltner told me in an interview. "Female scientists acknowledge that ’fight or flight’ is part of human nature, but so is caring for people." This is no touchy-feely feminist theory. Hard science is showing how the human capacity to care is wired into our brains and nervous systems.
    In my book Passages in Caregiving, I urge women who assume the whole responsibility for taking care of an elderly parent or chronically ill spouse to build a Circle of Care. Reach out to your brothers and sisters, friends, neighbors and community volunteers to help you care, because no one can perform this overwhelming role alone. You will be as stunned as I to learn how the most selfless caregivers are rewarded with greater longevity (寿命). Stephanie Brown, associate professor of preventive medicine at SUNY-Stony Brook, followed a group of older adults caring for family members with dementia and other illnesses. If they offered care more than 14 hours a week, they were less likely to die in a seven-year period than their peers.
    "Survival of the Kindest" is not just a theory. It is becoming a revolutionary cultural movement. There are many signs that caring is gaining currency. Keltner, who has been studying the science of this instinct for 15 years, says we are coming to the end of our cycle of greed. Berkeley and Stanford universities now have compassion centers devoted to the study and teaching of this theory. It will run up against hostility among the Hobbesians. Ayn Rand wrote, "If any civilization is to survive, it is the morality of selfishness that men have to reject." As Americans, we have a cultural bias against caring.
    Oh, sure, we give our families gifts generously during the holiday season, but in a capitalist system based on unrestrained competition, we worry that if we care, we lose. Compassion is a woman’s word. In men, it’s cast as weak, when in fact it makes us stronger under stress and more highly respected by our peers. For so long we have repeated the careless saying "Nice guys finish last." But the 40 richest Americans who took the Giving Pledge to commit half their fortunes to doing good are no spring chickens. Here is my reinterpretation: Nice guys die last.
According to the Berkeley researchers, Darwin’s central revelation is______.
选项 A、humans are born to be selfish
B、selfless makes us a successful species
C、fight is not part of human nature
D、care is related to our nervous system
答案B
解析 根据题干中的Darwin’s central revelation将本题出处定位到第二段首句，但是根据Berkeley researchers得知，答案应该在第一段找。该段末句提到，达尔文认为人类之所以是一个成功的物种，是因为我们所具有的照顾他人、无私以及同情的特质，而不是“人人为己”。[B]“无私使我们成为一个成功的物种”表达的是其中的一个方面，故为答案。[A]的观点与达尔文的观点恰恰相反，故排除；[C]是针对第二段中的‘fight or flight’is part of human nature设的干扰项，这是女科学家的观点，故排除；[D]是针对第二段末句的human capacity to care is wired into our brains and nervous systems设的强干扰项，这一观点是自然科学证明的东西，故排除。
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